Carpenter Recovers After Fall From Roof ($1 Million)

A union carpenter recovered $1 million after 4 years of litigation. The case settled one month before it was set to go to trial. The carpenter suffered a compound fracture of the left radius, destruction of the radial joint and damage to metacarpals, all of which resulted from a work-related accident.

The Case

After a series of tornadoes swept through Grundy County, Omnicon Restoration, a disaster repair service, was hired as the general contractor to restore a damaged roof on a ranch style house. Omnicon then subcontracted the work to RG Builders – the outfit that the carpenter worked for.

It was the second day on the job, and the outfit was in the process of installing a new roof. The carpenter was 9 to 10 feet up in the air with only the roof as a support and no fall protection. The roof twisted under his foot and he fell.

In-Depth Look

During the 9 to 10 foot drop, he reached out his left hand to help break the fall causing a compound fracture of the left radius. Further injuries sustained from the fall were the destruction of the radial joint and damage to the metacarpals.

Omnicon Restoration unsuccessfully tried to get the case dismissed. They essentially argued that because they weren’t on the project, they could not be in control of the work or know of the defective and unsafe condition. Jay Luchsinger, attorney at Horwitz, and former IronWorker, argued that Omnicon was responsible for the safety on the jobsite and that Omnicon failed to provide the proper fall protection for the workers. In addition, he argued that Omnicon was on the site the morning of the accident and watched the carpenters use the roof as a working platform without proper fall protection.

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